Not only among the heathen, but also among the Jews there were very
sinful people in those days. The most notorious Jewish sinners were the
two false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah. Ahab came to the daughter of
Nebuchadnezzar and said: "Yield thyself to Zedekiah," telling her this
in the form of a Divine message. The same was done by Zedekiah, who
only varied the message by substituting the name of Ahab. The princess
could not accept such messages as Divine, and she told her father what
had occurred. (106) Though Nebuchadnezzar was so addicted to immoral
practices that he was in the habit of making his captive kings drunk,
and then satisfying his unnatural lusts upon them, and a miracle had to
interpose to shield the pious of Judah against this disgrace, (107) yet
he well knew that the God of the Jews hates immorality. He therefore
questioned Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about it, and they
emphatically denied the possibility that such a message could have come
from God. The prophets of lies refused to recall their statements, and
Nebuchadnezzar decided to subject them to the same fiery test as he had
decreed for the three pious companions of Daniel. To be fair toward
them, the king permitted them to choose a third fellow-sufferer, some
pious man to share their lot. Seeing no escape, Ahab and Zedekiah asked
for Joshua, later the high priest, as their companion in the furnace,
in the hope that his distinguished merits would suffice to save all
three of them. They were mistaken. Joshua emerged unhurt, only his
garments were seared, but the false prophets were consumed. Joshua
explained the singeing of his garments by the fact that he was directly
exposed to the full fury of the flames. But the truth was that he had
to expiate the sins of his sons, who had contracted marriages unworthy
of their dignity and descent. Therefore their father escaped death only
after the fire had burnt his garments. (108)